Mechanism fob operating railroad-car brakes



- 2 Sheets--Sheet I. E. R ROE.

No. 17,983. Patenied Aug. 11. 1857..

2 Sh E. R ROE. eets Sheet 2 7 Car Brake. No. 17,983.- QZW Patented Aug. 11,. 1857.

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UNITED STATES ra'rnnr'r orrion.

E. R. ROE,.OF BLOOMINGTON, ILLINOIS.

MECHANISM FOR OPERATING RAILROAD-CAR BRAKES.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 17,983, dated August 11, 1857.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, E. R. ROE, residing at Bloomington, in the county of McLean and State of Illinois, have invented a new Machine 'for Operating the Brakes of Railroad-Cars, of which the following is a specification.

For a full description of his invention, the petitioner refers to the following specification, the accompanying drawings and schedule being hereby declared to be a part thereof.

Figure I is a perspective view of the machine. Fig. II isa plan, showing the operation of the pin G, in connect-ion with the anchor F, and arm E. Fig. III repre- Fig.

' IV is a view of the arm showing itshollow axis, largest at the top, and the detent springs. Fig. V shows the action of the cam with the depressing pin. Fig. VI shows the action of the cam with the detaching pin Fig. VII shows the fingers on the detaching pin. Fig. VIII is a plan of the wheels, axles, brakes, and levers of a car as now in common use, showing the mode of applying my invention, and its operation in connection with the brakes now in common use. Fig. IX is a plan, showing the ar-' rangement of the rods and ropes for operating my machine; and also the levers and pulleys for avoiding slack in the ropes. F ig; X shows some forms for castings of the supporting frame-work of the machine.

The construction of my machine is as follows:

On one of the axles of a rail-road carbeing either of the two inner or most interior ones-I fix a small pinion wheel, which being made fast, will revolve with the caraxle. Immediately over the car-axle, in any suitable frame, for bearings, I fix a second wheel, which works by its cogs in connection with the pinion, and at a right angle to the same, as seen at D, Fig. I, where A represents the car-axle, D the pinion, and C the larger horizontal wheel. About twenty inches may be the diameter of the wheel C. These wheels are intended to be always in motion when the car is moving.

At any point on the upper surface of the wheel C, but near its periphery, is a strong pin, with a flat head, beveled beneath, in a manner similar to a common wood screw.

This pin is shown at G in the drawings.

On the axle or shaft of the wheel 0, be-

tween its surface and the bearing of said shaft in the frame-work above, plays an arm (E, Fig. I) by a hole or opening through its axis, which opening being larger at the top than the shaft of the wheel C enables the arm to be moved up and down on its axis. The structure of this axis, with its opening larger at top, may be seen at c, Fig. IV.

At the outer end of the arm E is a bolthole for the purpose of fastening the anchor F. The form of this anchor is shown at Fig. III. It is attached to the arm E by a bolt and nut, as seen at X, Fig. I. In one end of the anchor is a hole, by

which a rod (H, Fig. I) is attached, as seen I at f, Fig. I.

The action of the pin G upon the anchor, in connection with the arm E and the rod H, is essentially that of a crank. In this crank-action, the shaft of the arm E represents the axis of motion, while E is the crank arm, the pin G its wrist, and the rod H the pitman. In this connection, the anchor is an important element, and de mands further description. It furnishes, by its two semi-circular indentations (seen at u a, Fig. II) the point of connection between the wrist-pin G and the arm F. These indentations are beveled on theirupper surface (as seen at t, t, Fig. III), to correspond with the head of the pin G; and this bevel continues along the inclined planes in which the indentations terminate (u u, Fig. III).

Fig. II shows the action of the pin, G, the anchor F, the arm E and the pitman-rod H, in operating the brakes of a rail-road car-thus. The revolution of thewheel 0 tends to bring the pin G in contact with the anchor, when by its pressure against the inclined edge of the same it turns the anchor slightly on its central pivot, and thus glides smoothly into one of the semi circular depressions in the anchor. The pin G then carries the anchor and its arm E around with it; the tension of the pitmanrod H at the same time causes the anchor to turn slightly on its pivot, as shown at f f, and and f f f, Fig. II. When the anchor has thus been carried around to d, the parts are in a condition similar to a crank about to pass the center. At this point, the end of the anchor is made to strike an obstructing portion of the framework cl, which arrests its outer end, and

causes it to turn slightly on its pivot, by which means the pin G is detached, and glides out of its connection with the anchor. This detachment of the pin G is, however, chiefly effected by the relative position of the pin G and the pivot of the anchor. That relation is such that in the action of the pin G upon the anchor as the Wheel C revolves, its circumference (the pins circumference) runs through the same line or circle as the center of the pivot of the anchor. This relation is rigid, and can not well be varied. The result of this arrangement is that as the arm and anchor approach the center, or dead point, at d, the depression in the anchor is carried just far enough from the axis of the arm E to detach the pin G. (See f f f f, Fig. II.).

The pitman-rod H, before described is attached to a bent lever, N, Fig. VIII, which is again attached to the chain now in common use for pulling down the brakes of rail-road cars; and the line of traction on the pitman-rod is such that it elevates the end of the arm E sufliciently to enable the pin G to pass under the anchor without touching it. IVhen it is required to throw the pin G and the anchor into connection, it is efiected by depressing the outer end of the arm E, by a depressing pin operated by a cam as shown in Fig. V. This pin (U, Fig. V) has a broad foot-piece V, to insure its pressing upon the arm; it is surrounded by a spiral retracting spring (W, Fig. V), and works in openings in appropriate lugs on the frame-work, as seen at i 2', Fig. V. The depression of the pin U is effected by a cam on the arm of a shaft, which runs across the top of the frame work, to be attached by an arm on its opposite end to a second cam, having a similar office. The form of the first cam may be seen at Q, Fig. V. It consists of two eccentrics, terminating in the same concentric circle. The action of the cams is the same when worked from either direction. The second cam referred to above, operates the detaching pin. This pin may be'seen at T, Fig. VI. It is like the depressing pin already described, except that it has two fingers, which project through an opening through the frame-work, one on each side of the detent, J, Fig. I. These fingers are shown at 0, Fig. VII. The form of the cam which operates this detaching pin is shown at P, Fig. VI. It consists of two eccentrics, intersecting at such a point that the action of the cam is to press down the pin T when the machine is not in action, and to permit the retracting spring, IV, Fig. VI, to force the said pin upward when the arm which carries the cam is moved in either direction. (See M, Fig. VI.) The shaft which connects these two cam-bearing arms is shown at K, Fig. I.

I, I, Fig. IV, are detent-springs, attached to the end of the arm E. They each have a catch, or latch, upon the outer end, which at the proper moment hooks behind the detent J, Fig. I, and thus holds the arm fast after the pin G becomes detached.

The action of the machine is as follows: By a rope or rod, attached to either of the cam-bearing armsmor M, (Fig. I) the arms and cams are movedin either direction. The cam Q, causes the depressing pin U to press by its foot against the end of the arm E, depressing it and the anchor. The wheel C, as it revolves (in either direction) brings the pin G into contact with the anchor F, and carries it around with it, thus drawing the pitman-rod H a distance nearly equal to the diameter of the wheel C, and by means of the bent lever (N, Fig. VIII) pulling down the brakes. During this action the end of the anchor strikes the obstruction at (Z, (Fig. II) and releases the pin G. At the same time, the detent spring I, Fig. V, hooks behind the detent, J, Fig.

I. The arm E being now released from its connection with the pin G, is elevated at its end by the traction of the rod H, and the pin G is then enabled to pass under the anchor without touching it. The brakes are now down. When it is desired to let up the brakes the rope by which the cam-arm m, Fig. I was drawn aside is slackened up, when the cam-arms both return to their perpendicular position from their own weight, or they must be weighted, if necessary. The action of the cam P, in returning to the perpendicular, depresses the pin T,

sequent to the manufacture thereof, and may then be bolted on. From this description it will be seen that the frame-work rests entirely on the axle of the car (this being the only part of a car not vibrating on springs). To keep it steady in this posi tion, a stay-bar, B, Fig. I runs from the lower portion of the frame-work to the other axle of the same car-truck, the said axle being protected from the friction of said stay-bar by an intervening thimble. From the top of the frame-work, a strong pin (N, Fig. I) projects upward toward the car floor where it plays through a hole in a strong stay brace, and thus allows for the cars Vibration on its springs. The traction of the rod H will also be lengthwise of the car-axle, and have little tendency to make the frame revolve on the aXle of the car.

.I-Iaving thus fully described so much of my brake-operator, it remains to describe the arrangement of the rods and ropes by which it is put in action.

The lower end m, of the cam-bearing arm which operates the depressing pin U, is attached to a rod running along under the floor of the car, in any proper supports or guides. Within a short distance of the end of this rod farthest from the machine, a stout cord is attached to the rod, and then, passing through a ring or hole in the shaft of the wheel now in use on all cars, for brake purposes, passes around a pulley, as seen at p, 1*, Fig. IX. This pulley is fixed at one end of a rod or bar, some two feet or so in length, which bar is fast by a pivot-bolt to a bracket projecting from the car in such a way as to bring the said pulley opposite to the hole or ring in the shaft aforesaid-seen at is, Fig. IX. The other end of the bar (8, Fig. IX) is free, and is intended to be connected by a pivot with a similar bar on another car, when making up a train. The two bars when thus connected will somewhat resemble the roman letter V. At the point of connection between the bars will also be a pulley, so that the rope, coming out from under one car, passes around the first pulley, as before described, then around the pulley which is at the junction of the two bars and then around a pulley similarly situated to the first described, and thence through the hole or ring in the axle of the brake-wheehunder the second car, where it is attached to the cam rod of said car. The object of this arrangement is, to allow for the ever-varying distance between two cars, for as they separate or approach each other, the distance around the three pulleys, and consequently the length of rope, will always remain the same. Fig. IX illustrates this whole arrangement. The rope, as it passes between cars, may be separated or attached, as occasion requires,

' by snaps, a well known device, and the middle pulley may be made fast to but one of the rods, so as to permit of their ready separation, by withdrawing the pivot bolt, on detaching two cars from each other. In connection with these operating ropes, it is also provided for making allowance for irregularities in the length of the ropes by the form of the cam Q, which terminating in a concentric circle at about one half the distance which it passes over the head of the depressing pin, will thus allow the ropes to be pulled much farther than necessary without interfering with their proper action. When two cars are separated, the loose ends of the ropes are attached, one to each brake-shaft, where the said ropes pass through rings in the same. The consequence of this whole arrangement is, that by turning any one of the ordinary brake-wheels on a train of cars, it wraps up the ropes from both directions, slipping through the rings, in the other brake-shafts, and thus operating the machines throughout the train. Or, if the brake used be that on the tender to the locomotive, it will thus give the engineer or his brakeman entire control of the train. This is the chief object of the invention.

Of course, I wish it understood that one of my machines must be on each car in a train.

The advantages claimed for my invention are :It dispenses with all the brakemen of a train, except one; it gives a power for controlling the brakes which is equal to the momentum of the train; it enables the engineer or a single brakeman to apply the brakes to a whole train of any number of cars, from any one of said cars; it makes the application of the brakes simultaneous to all the cars, and in an instant; it operates the same forward or backward; it leaves one set of the brakes (as now in use) unconnected with my device, which may still be used separately in descending grades, or in case of accident to the operating and connecting rods of my device; and it admits of the easy attachment of its connecting cords, in making up a train.

I claim The combination of the anchor F in its connection with the arm E and the pin G, and operated as described, by the cams and pins, in connection with the wheel C, in the manner described and for the purpose described.

E. R. ROE.

Witnesses:

Z. S. HoovER, H. P. MERRIMAN. v 

